Envisioning
by WildFireBurnsTheForest
Summary: What if Will's life was even more messed up than it already is? More drama, more pain, and alternate universe. Will and Sonny aren't together yet, but are edging closer together, even though most people think Will is straight. And what happened to Will during the times he lived in Switzerland? Since when did he box? Twists and turns are everywhere for this young man.


_**I was quick to fall into this fandom, but also quick to fall out. If people find this interesting enough, I'll continue, though. I wrote this almost three months ago and decided to stop having it sit in the vault and let it see daylight. There will be errors and mistakes throughout and it will be different-way different - from the timeline going on now, so bare with me please. **_

_**I have recently fallen into another bout of writers block for yet another fandom and thought that if I can get some responses from more than just my Danny Phantom fanfictions, I might be able to continue with these other, but it is undecided as of now. **_

_**All material belongs to those who own it. Some characters are of my own creation that will be interacting with Characters already created by their respective owners. I do not get any form of compensation from these. **_

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Will had complex feelings for Horton square. On one hand, he loved that it brought Salem a little closer together, but it was always so crowded because of that.

Either people were rushing around trying to get somewhere or they were out with their families. The point was, people were constantly involved with doing something in their lives while Will, Will was just standing there watching everyone with their families, or with a friend or significant other either leisurely wandering around and lounging, or rushing away angrily with their loved one's on their tailcoats.

All in all, at least everyone had someone with them, unlike Will. He had no one. Sami and Lucas had each other again and Gabi didn't need nor want him. Sonny was spending the day with his parents, and Chad was with E.J. today. Will didn't have anything.

Will gasped silently when he saw Sonny sitting on the couch with his mother, Adrianne, and his father, Justin. He was sitting in the middle of the two parents, Sonny was giggling as he drank his coffee. They were all so happy that Will couldn't fully understand it. Will never had the sort of relationship with either of his parents where they could just sit around and talk and have fun.

The closest thing he had ever come to that was with his Uncle Austin and Aunt Carrie. And E.J..

Will was quick to throw the hood from his hoodie up and turn to his left so that Sonny wouldn't recognize him. But doing that caused him to look straight over to where Lucas and Sami were with the kids, causing tears to well up in pain.

Later he would call E.J. and apologize for not being about to complete another one of E.J.'s erratic errands today, but right now he just wanted to be alone and far away from the spectacle right now. The two adults were wrapped in each other's arm as Allie, Sydney, and Johnny sat around eating their ice cream with happy expressions on their faces, like none of them even cared that the eldest son was no longer sitting there with them.

"William!" E.J.'s british voice called out from behind him, but Will didn't have it in him to turn around. He didn't want E.J. to see the tears that were silently trailing down his cheeks. He lowered his head until he was looking at the ground in shame. His body was tense as he heard the older DiMera trek closer. Will wrapped his arms around himself as he waited for the berating that was sure to follow. Especially with so many people around, E.J. sure as hell wouldn't pass this up. The older man loved to public humiliate Will when he didn't finish a task on time, if the situation suited him. Will hated it more than anything, and E.J. knew that. The humiliation and damage to his pride were enough to keep him in line for whenever he thought to stray.

It was a precautionary for E.J.. Just in case the blackmail he had over Will wasn't enough one day.

"William, didn't your mother ever teach you any manners as to how to treat a superior?" E.J. huffed as he caught up to where Will was standing rigidly. E.J. was shocked when William had no snarky reply or jab at his mother in retaliation.

"William?" Will continued to ignore E.J., but when he sniffled and brought the sleeve of his- no Sonny's- hoodie up to wipe his tears, E.J. noticed. He placed a gentle hand on Will's shoulder and frowned as he felt how tense Will was. He looked around and noticed that there wasn't any attention on them yet, but he did notice the Kiriakis family along with Sami, Rafe, and the children all lounging around Horton Square.

He could only guess what was going through the blonde boy's mind at this moment.

"William, look at me." His voice was quieter and gentler, and Will hated it even more than when E.J. yelled at him. He hated the pity that would inevitably be in E.J.'s eyes when Will would have to look up at the older man. He didn't want to look up. He really didn't.

E.J. quickly got in front of Will when the blond took a step away from him. Will glanced up for a moment and regretted it immediately.

"Oh, William." E.J. sighed, replacing his hand on Will's shoulder. Will shook his head rapidly as tears continued to fall, along with the hood of Sonny's favorite hoodie, which he let Will borrow the other day when Sonny accidently spilled coffee all over Will's shirt.

"No don't." Will muttered, continuing to shake his head. "Don't, don't, don't. Don't do it." E.J. looked confused at the blonde boy's mumbles.

"I'm not following." Will was shaking.

"Don't stare at me like that, stop looking at me in pity, I hate it so freaking much." Will cried, closing his eyes in a vain attempt at stopping the tears, but he was too... Too done, too defeated, too tired. He was too damaged.

E.J.'s eyes were wide as Will continued to murmur through his sobbing.

E.J. pulled William into a tight hug as he looked over the shorter man's shoulder to the two groups. Both were constantly glancing over at the pair, but neither had yet gotten up to do anything.

He knew he had to get the boy out of public eye before any of the people causing the pain noticed and tried to help. He wrapped a gentle arm around Will before practically dragging him over to his car. It wasn't that Will was fighting him; it was just that Will could barely see through the tears.

"Come on bud." E.J. whispered as he heard Sami's yells behind them. He quickly got Will into the passenger side before getting in himself and turning the car on. Sami was almost to them when he peeled out of the parking lot, leaving her behind. He wasn't trying to purposely piss off the blonde female. But he also knew that she was extremely insensitive to William's emotions. And with him already breaking, E.J. knew that William would shatter if his mother were to go near him at the moment.

As they drove, E.J. tried to decide where it would be best to take William. If he took him to the mansion in a mess like this, there would be a chance that Stefano would be curious and could, in return, use this against the both of them. But where else could he take the young man?

The solution became clear soon as Will violently shook in the passenger seat. Once at a red light, E.J. buckled Will's seatbelt and turned left. He would take William to his apartment complex.

Hopefully Sami would understand once he had a chance to calm William down and explain to Sami exactly why he took off with her eldest child.

Once there, E.J. patted each of Will's pockets before finding his keys tucked in Sonny's hoodie pocket and pulling them out. He pulled Will out of the car and into the building, stopping to inform the clerk not to tell anyone that either of them was here. At first the clerk was hesitant, but after getting a good look at the silent blonde that was standing close to E.J. he decided that E.J. wasn't going to harm him.

Once in the room, E.J. set William on the couch before crouching down to his level and staring him in the eyes, making sure to keep all forms of pity off his face as he wiped Will's tears away.

"Shh, William." E.J. murmured, brushing the blonde's hair out of his face. He pulled Will's feet onto his knees and unlaced his shoes before pulling them, and his socks, off. He took the sunglasses off of Will's head and placed them on the coffee table along with his cell phone, keys, and wallet. By now Will had calmed down enough that he wasn't sobbing anymore, but he still had a few tears that were streaking down his cheeks.

He pushed Will onto his back before sweeping his legs up and situated him until he was lying comfortably. Once he was lying down, E.J. went into what he assumed was William's bedroom and stopped dead. Looking around the room, E.J. was shocked and a little disturbed.

He remembered only one time when he had seen Will's room when he still lived with Samantha and Rafe and he was surprised how neat it was for a teenage boy. But there had been a dirty hamper, several photographs scattered around, stuffed animals on the bed from his siblings, along with coloring pictures from them. His room may have been extremely neat, but it was also _lived in_.

This room was not. It looked pretty much the same way it had when he gave William the apartment. The only thing that was out of place was the small lavender quilt that made E.J's heart clench.

It was baby Grace's blanket. The only one she would sleep with in the few month of her life. She knew when the large quilt wasn't with her, and she wouldn't sleep until she got it back. Sami had been so afraid to let her have such a large blanket, but when Grace wouldn't sleep without it, she had to relent.

E.J. had always wondered where it had ended up, especially when Sami said she had lost it. It laid folded across the corner of the silver king sized bed and looked like it was used quite a bit. Everything else looked completely sterile; nothing else was out of place.

E.J., uncomfortable with how empty the room was, quickly grabbed the neatly folded blanket. He tucked a pillow under the blonde boy's head and draped the blanket over William's shoulders, gently brushing his hair out of his face. He breathed heavily when Will's phone went off again. Thankfully, Will had already had it on vibrate so it hadn't woken the sleeping boy. It was Sonny this time, Sami the three times before, along with Chad, Lucas, Rafe, and Marlena.

E.J. had gone into the kitchen and made a quick call to Chad informing him that he _may_ be a little late to their dinner.

"Can I come over?" Chad had begged, worried for his best friend. E.J. bit his lip.

"He's asleep right now. How about I call you when he wakes up and you can come over?" E.J. suggested as he made himself a mug of coffee. He vaguely took notice that it was the same coffee that Sonny and Chad used at Common Grounds. How interesting that William had it here.

"That's sounds fair." He heard Chad sigh. "If he was upset, did you see if there was a large Stitch plushy in his room? I remember that it used to be the only thing that would calm him. And I know he's eighteen now, but I know he still used it just last year." E.J. snorted.

"Don't you dare judge him E.J.." Chad growled when he heard his older half-brother's snort. While E.J. was surprised by Chad's protectiveness over the younger boy, but for some reason, E.J. also understood it. There was something about Will that made E.J. wish to protect him.

There was something in Will that made a _lot_ of people want to protect and cherish him. Maybe it was his shy personality, or his innocence, or even his childlike outlook. While William was pretty strong and could probably hold his own against E.J. or Rafe in a fight, that didn't mean people would forever want to protect him.

"There is nothing wrong with him wanting some reassurance from an inanimate object." E.J. murmured as he pulled out some sugar and cream from the cabinets and pouring it in. "But I would like to know what in bloody hell is a Stitch?" Chad chuckled.

"It's a blue dog-like animal. It's from a show we used to watch as kids." E.J. sighed. Sometimes he forgot the two had grown up together.

"Thank you E.J., for taking care of him and not judging him." E.J. smiled.

"Oh course, Chad." E.J. stared over at the boy, who held tight to himself and slept with a slight snore.

"Oh, and can you not mention to anyone as to _where _we are? You can tell them that William is fine and that I didn't hurt him, though." Chad sighed.

"What about Sonny? They're, like, inseparable in everything." E.J. hmm'd before relenting.

"I think that should be fine as long as you tell Jackson not to harass William as to why he was upset." Chad agreed and the two brothers hung up.

E.J. sighed into the silence before walking around the apartment. The apartment had three bedrooms and two bathrooms. It also had a laundry closet, a kitchen, a living room, a dining room, and a large patio. It was an enormous apartment, and E.J. wondered if it might be _too_ much for Will.

The rest of the rooms were as bare as William's, but nothing had any dust on it. He reentered William's bedroom and walked around. He didn't want to intrude, but his curious nature always got the better of him. Opening one of the computer desk's drawers, E.J. was shocked to see it filled with pictures.

Every album was dated with a year and a main location. Some were from Switzerland, while most were from Salem.

E.J. pulled a few photo albums out and sat down in the computer chair before flipping through them. Most of them were of William's three younger siblings, Allie, Sydney, and Johnny with various other family members popping up. Rarely were any of Sami, Lucas, or Will himself. And the few times William appeared in a photograph, it was with another person.

The Switzerland ones were all in another language, so E.J. wasn't able to decipher much of the descriptions given, but he did notice that William showed up in a lot more of the pictures. They were usually ones that William wasn't aware they were being taken at the time.

Another pattern E.J. was aware of was what William was doing. He was almost always in a gym in these photographs. Most of the time he was either punching or kicking a punching bag, sometimes he was fighting another person.

Except for William's Uncle Austin and his Aunt Carrie, E.J. didn't know any of the people in the five photo albums from Switzerland. But one thing E.J. did know was that William looked happier there, than E.J.'s ever seen him.

He quickly looked through the rest of the photographs before tucking them away and opening another drawer. This one was full of drawings from the children and other crafts from their school times. The other two drawers of the desk were locked and E.J. couldn't remember them ever having those before. Interesting.

He moved around the room, taking in everything and noticing where things were slightly worn. The left side of the bed dipped a little from constant use and had one less pillow over there than on the right side. The handle of the nightstand on the left side of the bed was slightly more worn than the one on the right side.

When E.J. walked over to the closet, he knew he found what was missing throughout the room. Scattered throughout the enormous walk-in closet were several boxes stacked on top of each other. Each were labeled and stacked from largest to smallest. Everyone was closed by folding one flap over the other, and was all exactly the same. E.J. wondered if Will was borderline OCD.

He read through, trying to find one that would give him any hint as to where his plushy might be. There was a box labeled miscellaneous, so E.J opened it and wasn't disappointed. In there were several trophies along with more photo albums, a couple yearbooks, a bible, a magazine of bullets, random books written in a foreign language, and the Stitch plushy.

E.J quickly grabbed the plushy and waltzed back into the living room. He supposes he could have put William in his room, but at least this way, E.J. was able to keep a better eye on him. He gently placed the Stitch plushy under his arm and suppressed a coo as William snuggled the plushy closely. He looked like a child at that moment. He reminded William a lot of Johnny, and he was angry in himself for how he has treated the younger man for most of his life. He swore he wouldn't turn into the same kind of father _his_ father was, and yet he did in some ways. He had isolated both William and Allie for not being his own children, while he made sure to spoil his own two. And yet the poor boy still trusted him, after all the shit they've put each other through. And yet, E.J. couldn't think of another person that would stand by him as William would.

He left the blonde in the living room before walking back into the bedroom and to the closet. He looked at the trophies and was surprised by the variety. He never knew William was this talented. There were a few for soccer, baseball, tennis, and track along with piano, guitar, and singing. But most of them were boxing trophies. E.J. never knew William boxed but the pictures of him should have given him some insight.

He closed the box before turning out of the closet and out of the room. Thankful that he had grabbed his laptop, E.J. sat in the large Lay-Z-Boy chair closest to the couch and opened it up. He began to research on William during his time in Switzerland and was shocked at the information he had never known about William.

Not only had William been one of the youngest professional boxers in Switzerland, he also conquered both the soccer and baseball fields. He had been known as, what his teammates called him, their hidden gift. He was also sighted for helping out at soup kitchens all the time and he volunteered at local animal shelters, and homeless shelters, and was constantly helping cleaning highways and whatnot. And he always felt that William was a tad selfish and self-centered like his parents, but it seemed he wasn't as alike as everyone thought he was.

E.J. was staring at a picture of a younger William with pale blue eyes and blonde, almost white, hair when a knock at the door startled him. He quickly closed his research before getting up to answer the door. Looking through the peephole, E.J. groaned.

"I thought I told you I would call you when he awoke." E.J. hissed quietly, trying not to disturb William. Chad looked apologetic while Sonny looked worried.

"He wanted to see Will as soon as I told him and he wouldn't take no for an answer." Chad whispered back, a hand on Sonny's shoulder. E.J. sighed.

"He's asleep right now, so I'll let you two in _if _you promise to be quiet." Sonny and Chad both nodded as E.J. stepped back and opened the door for the two. Once entering, both sets of eyes zoomed in on the sleeping figure cuddled under the lavender quilt with his stuffed Stitch close to his heart. If it wasn't so heartbreakingly beautiful, it would have been hilarious. But neither boy had it in them to actually want to tease him.

"How long has he been out?" Sonny whispered, stilling when Will stirred in his sleep before tucking his face in behind the plush and snoring quietly.

"He's been asleep for close to an hour, Jackson." E.J. murmured before resuming his seat in the plush Lay-Z-Boy.

"I'm going to get a drink, do you guys want anything?" Sonny muttered, briefly turning to the two DiMera men. Both shook their heads before focusing back on each other.

"What exactly happened earlier, quickly while Sonny is still in the kitchen." E.J. sighed.

"I was looking for William because he hadn't finished my task for him yet and I found the poor boy standing in the middle of Horton square crying. I think it had something to do with Rafe and Samantha out with the kids or maybe because Jackson was with his parents or a mix of both. Something was hurting him so I pulled him away and Samantha tried racing after us, but you _know_ she is completely insensitive to William's feelings. So I brought him here, where he fell asleep almost instantly." Chad nodded, biting his lip.

"He didn't say why he was crying, though. So I cannot really help you any more than what I've told you." Chad shook his head.

"Nah, thanks for telling me bro. Will's one of my best friends and yet I don't think he feels that he can trust me." E.J. wished he could give his young brother some type of reassurance, and yet he didn't know what to say. He squeezed Chad's shoulder gently.

They stayed quiet as Will began to murmur in his sleep, a pained look on his face. He kept on mumbling and began to shift around. He looked scared, terrified.

"No…" William cried out quietly. E.J. jumped up and sat near Will's hip while Chad sat above Will's head. As he began to wither around, Chad placed a hand in Will's blond hair and drug his hands through Will's hair gently. Sonny had run in at Will's cry and was now holding William's hand.

"No please. I'll be good." E.J. bit his lip at William's frightened moan. He began to hyperventilate.

"Please stop, _please_." Chad continued to caress his hair gently, murmuring in Will's ear quietly. Everyone was oblivious of the police officers outside the door getting prepared to bust the door in.

"No please, please stop!" Will's voice was gaining power as he continued to cry in pain. Whatever he was experiencing in that moment was keeping him from waking up. None of the men heard the door being opened by the clerk or Roman, Rafe, and three other officers storming in, only to stop as they watched the three men try and coax Will out of his sleep.

"Come on Will, wake up." Sonny murmured softly as he held the teen's hand gently. Sometimes he forgot just how young Will was. He may be legally an adult, but that was only on paper. He wasn't even twenty yet. On paper, the math wasn't too much of a difference. Sonny twenty-one, Will eighteen. Three and a half years, but he's a _baby_ in life.

Chad had tried taking the Stitch and move it to Will's back so he wouldn't throw it, but Will clutched to it tightly.

"William, wake up." It was the first time E.J. had spoken, his voice firm and controlling. It seemed to work, though. Will stopped struggling but hadn't stopped talking.

"Please, stop." Will whispered, his voice losing any fire. E.J. rubbed Will's chest kindly. As he blinked his eyes opened, he looked confused, shocked at what was going on.

"Where am I?" He muttered, scooting back until his head was unknowingly resting in Chad's lap. Chad continued to stroke Will's golden locks, startling Will. He tried to sit up, but Chad kept him down. By now, Roman and Rafe had moved up to watch the three with his grandson. While he didn't trust the older DiMera, he also knew Chad wouldn't let anyone near Will unless they were trusted. The Kiriakis boy was a mystery. The Horton's and Kiriakis' were always at war, but the Brady's and Kiriakis' hadn't really crossed paths until the two boy's parents started their war. With the two boy's being connected to all four of the most powerful families in Salem, it was hard for people not to know random, personal things about the two boys, and Roman was worried this might get out to the public, via the other three police officers. He knew that, while Rafe and Sami were no longer together due to her cheating on Hernandez, that Rafe still cared for Will and the children.

"You're at your apartment, William." E.J. muttered quietly, finally taking in the people at the door.

"I thought I told you to not let anyone up." E.J. growled, glaring at the clerk. Jerry gulped nervously.

"I'm sorry, Mr. DiMera, but they're the police and I didn't want to get in trouble and, I'm really sorry W-will, and please don't f-fire me Mr. DiMera." E.J. stood up to berate the clerk when a firm hand gripped his forearm. He looked down to see Will semi-sitting up against Chad. He had bags under his bloodshot eyes and his hair was a mess.

"Don't be mad at Jerri, E.J. he's nice." E.J. glared over at the clerk, but nodded and crouched back down to Will and sighed.

"Grandpa?" Will mumbled, sitting up straighter on the couch. The stitch plushy lay on the floor, forgotten.

Roman took a step forward and took Will's appearance in. He was ragged with bags under his bloodshot eyes. His hair was standing up as if he had stuck his finger in a socket, and sweat pooled at the base of his neck.

"Why're you guys here?" He pressed, he looked nervous to have all of the police in there with him.

"Your mother called, terrified that DiMera had taken you." Rafe grumbled, thankful to see Will was safe, if a bit frayed. In all honesty, he did love Will as if he were his own. Even though Will and Rafe hadn't talked since the truth about Sami and E.J. came out, Rafe would always be there for Will. Roman wanted to laugh at how surprised Will seemed at the idea.

"Why would he have any reason to do that?" He was standing by now and had refolded the blanket before walking to his room, everyone following him slowly.

"Because of who E.J. is." Roman muttered before looking over at his grandson.

"You mother had told us you had been crying while he drug you to his car and sped off." Will blushed.

"I was having a, um, a panic attack and E.J. was kind enough to bring me here." Roman frowned. He remembered when Will was going through the custody issues amongst Sami, Carrie, Austin, and Lucas how the boy used to get panic attacks a lot. Again when he was around thirteen and everything with E.J. was happening.

"I don't think that all of these officers are necessary." Chad murmured, watching the three unknown officers. They had been quiet and attentive and had this been any other town in the country, he would have thought they were just doing their jobs. But Chad knew this two, and its people and knew they were looking for gossip. Roman shrugged, but didn't release the three officers.

"Come one, William. Let's get you something to drink." E.J. whispered as Will tried and failed to silence his cough. Will nodded before directing everyone out of his bedroom and into the kitchen.

"Can I get any of you anything to drink?" Will offered, looking to each of the men in his apartment. Everyone nodded, causing Will to raise an eyebrow. Chad and Sonny stepped up to and offered to help him. The adults in the room retired to the living room to discuss the matter at hand.

Jerri had quickly made sure Will was okay before trekking back down to his desk to pray that Mr. DiMera wouldn't fire him behind Will's back. This left only the officers and E.J. alone while the younger men made them coffees.

"Well, this is rather awkward." Chad whispered in a British accent, mocking his brother.

"What is? Having all of the police in there with E.J.?" Chad grinned over at Sonny.

"I'm talking about Rafe and E.J. being in the same room along with Sami's father." Will snorted.

"Didn't really think about it like that." Will mumbled as he began to pour some coffee into each of the mugs he had set out while Sonny pulled out cream and sugar, surprised Will actually had any.

"I keep it here for when you and Chad visit." Will supplied as Sonny turned around to ask. Chad snickered at the shocked expression Sonny donned.

"How did you know _that_ was what I was going to ask?" Sonny teased, crossing his arms and leaning against the counter. Will just shrugged.

"It was how you were looking at it. And plus," Will looked up, a twinkle in his eye. "I _do _use sugar for other things. It's how I stay so sweet." Chad snorted, dropping a spoon into the sink with a loud _clank_.

"_Right_." Sonny rolled his eyes. "You're a complete health nut, what could you possibly use sugar for." Will blushed, but shrugged.

"That's for me to know only." Again, Chad snorted.

"Aw, come on man!" Sonny cried as he pulled out the honey and some caramel. Not many people knew, but Will liked some caramel in his coffee every now and again. He treated it like a guilty pleasure. Sonny thought it was adorable.

"Nope, I'm not going to tell you." Sonny sighed dramatically.

"I guess Will never really loved me. All I want to know is what else he could _possibly_ use sugar for." Will giggled as Chad leaned back against the island and watched the two flirt. If only William would just realize…

"Well if _Sonny _really loves me like he says he does, then he would _drop it_." Will snipped back playfully, an easy-going grin on his face.

Sonny had mixed some caramel into Will's mug before turning towards the younger man and held out a spoonful of caramel. Will took the spoon into his mouth and sucked some of the caramel off. It was a rather large spoonful, so he didn't dare take all of the sweet caramel off at once. Sonny pulled the spoon back and licked the rest of the caramel off while grabbing the opened bottle of honey.

"Not cool dude, I wanted the rest of the caramel." Will cried, moving in to grab the bottle of honey from the older boy.

"If I can't have my caramel, you can't have any honey." Will grumbled before pouring some honey into his mouth, right from the bottle. Sonny pulled it back quickly, causing Will to gasp as the honey drizzled onto his chin and down his neck. Chad couldn't help the laughing. They were so childish.

"You did not just get _honey_ on me." Sonny smirked.

"It seems I did, _honey._" Will lunged for the bottle and got some on Sonny's face in retaliation. As the two boys struggled over the bottle, Chad couldn't help laughing while they got honey all over each other. The whole apartment was filled with the laughter of the three boys as Will and Sonny continued to horse around.

It wasn't until Chad got hit with some of the sweet, sticky goodness that they stopped, only for Sonny and Will to laugh loudly.

"Come on guys! It's not funny!" Chad cried out. The men all finally came in to see what the commotion was about and were definitely shocked to see the mess the boys had made.

"William! Jackson!" E.J.'s scandalized voice rang out, breaking into the boys' laughing. Though, E.J. was secretly pleased to see Will smiling again. Will looked over to the adults sheepishly, a small, innocent smile on his lips. Sonny looked devilish.

"Fortunately, it seems most of the honey got on you boys." Roman muttered as Sonny handed out the coffees. Will blushed, ducking his head and looking up at everyone through his bangs.

"Yeah, I guess we got a little out of control." E.J. rolled his eyes at the understatement, but didn't have it in him to berate the boy.

"You boys need to get showers before the honey sets in your hair." Sonny and Will both put a hand in their hair and giggled when they pulled away with honey.

"Alright, we'll go get showers. Sonny, you still know where the other bathroom is, right? I think you can borrow some of my clothes until you can get home to change. I think you still have some clothes here from the last time you crashed here, Chad. So you can change as well." They boys nodded as the adults all got their drinks and headed back into the living room.

"You're jeans are in the top drawer of the dresser closest to the closet and you can just grab a shirt from my closet, same goes for you Sonny." Will instructed. The three young men downed their coffees before Will and Sonny left for the separate bathrooms while Chad strode into Will's bedroom.

"I'm going to call my daughter and then I'm going to need to get a statement from each of the boys and you." Roman muttered as he stood up and walked into the kitchen. E.J watched as Rafe slowly walked around the living room, picking up random pictures and smiling at each memory. Most were of the children while some are of others. Rafe, E.J., Sonny, Chad, Roman, his Uncle Austin, and Aunt Carrie were scattered throughout the rooms.

It was slightly depressing that neither of Will's parents were in any of the photos, but it wasn't very shocking. Will had never had a good relationship with either of his parents, but Rafe was surprised not to see _any_ hint that either of his parents were ever in his life.

When Roman returned, he was still on the phone.

"What's the address here, DiMera?" E.J. was startled out of his thoughts by Roman leaning towards him.

"And why would you need William's address?" E.J. looked around as music began to blare from the bathroom Will had gone in. He really didn't feel comfortable dishing out William's address. But if he did decide to move William to a more intimate apartment closer to his mansion, then he guessed it wouldn't matter.

"Sami and Lucas don't know it." Roman muttered, glancing over at the three officers listening intently. E.J. nodded before rattling the address of quietly before turning to the officers and demanding their names.

"My name is Dan, to my left is Jock, and to my right is Kelly. We go by officers Smith, Till, and Johnson, Mayor DiMera." Officer Smith muttered jabbing his thumbs over to the men on either of him. E.J. nodded easily before relaxing into the chair. He would have someone research the trio later.

"And how long have you each been on the police force?" As E.J. continued to interrogate the threesome, Rafe listened as Will's melodic voice rang through the bathroom door. Chad had come out of Will's bedroom with his dirty clothes and grinned at the door before shaking his head. He banged on the door.

"Unlock the door so I can get the dirty clothes in the washer before the stains set!" The singing stopped for a moment before Rafe heard a click. Chad waited a few seconds until Will's singing started up again before pushing the door open. Will's rich voice rang through the apartment along with the steam from Will's shower.

"_I guess I shouldn't blame you for being ambiguous,_

_I know that it's innocent but you,_

_Are keeping me from building something intimate,_

_But I'll give in if you want me to._

_Oh, I'm struggling to keep my heart from failing,_

_But every time I do, I find my body caving in,_

_My mind just melts away."_

Once Chad had slipped back out and closed the door, everyone looked away. While E.J. and Rafe both knew he could sing, they never knew he could sing that well! Chad quickly repeated the process with Sonny before walking over to a closet and filling the washer with their dirty clothes and pressing start. It was a good thing that the DiMera apartments could handle so much happening at once.

Everyone jumped as there was sudden knocks on the door. Roman opened it to Lucas, Sami, Sydney, Johnny, Allie, Marlena, Kate, Adrianne, and Justin. How did so many people get here so quickly?

"I don't think that you _all_ need to be here." Roman muttered as everyone filed into the apartment, which suddenly felt a lot smaller.

"Where's Will, is he okay? What happened to him?" Sami blurted at Roman before turning on E.J. with a glare she thought was intimidating, while E.J. thought it to be hilarious.

"_Daddy!_" Johnny and Sydney squealed in unison before racing over to the older British father. He smiled down at them before picking each one up and giving them Eskimo kisses.

"And _you_." She growled, pointing at E.J. with an ill-manicured finger. "You better not have hurt my boy, otherwise you're going down." E.J. stayed silent as Chad snorted.

"Will was having a panic attack in Horton Square, so E.J. thought it would be best to bring him here away from the commotion to calm him down." Roman informed his daughter, trying to calm her down some. Sami snorted.

"Do you really think that's what happened?" She hissed, not taking her eyes off E.J. "I want to see my son!" She screeched, searching the apartment with her eyes.

"He's in the shower right now, Ms. Brady." Chad spoke up. While he could understand her words, he didn't like the tone she took up with his older brother.

"And why is that?" Lucas asked, his eyebrows scrunched up together.

"He and Sonny had a fight over the honey and it got all over us while we were making coffee." Chad muttered.

"Okay…" Kate murmured, walking further into the room. She was surprised that this was an apartment of a teenage boy. It was just too neat. She knew men twice as old as William who couldn't keep their house this clean and nice. She walked around, looking at all of the pictures; she was pleasantly surprised to see her in them. Most of his family was there, except for Lucas and Sami.

"Why are you and Sonny even here?" Lucas asked, closing the apartment door. Chad gave him a scrutinizing glare.

"Maybe because we're his friends and—" Chad was interrupted with Sonny bursting through the door, steam bellowing from the bathroom. He had nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist and another towel on his head as he towel dried his hair.

Everyone was shocked at how comfortable Sonny looked roaming around the apartment; at least until he noticed how many people were in there.

"Whoa!" He exclaimed before jumping back and up against the wall. "Mom, Dad? Why're you guys here?" Adrianne gave a strained smile before answering.

"We just wanted to make sure Will was alright." Translations: we wanted gossip on the Horton's. Sonny wanted to snap at them, but he was also hyperaware of his nudity. He abruptly turned and stormed into Will's bedroom. Only to submerge ten minutes later wearing a pair of Will's jeans and one of his old baseball tee's with Horton in bold letters on the back. He had carried the towels out and had thrown them in a basket hanging in the closet.

"Sonny!" Allie cried before running over to the young adult. His face broke into a large grin before picking her up and easily swung her around like an airplane before settling her on his hip.

"What's up, my little princess?" She giggled at him before shrugging at him in such a Will manner, it was adorable.

"Bubby was missing so we came here to find him." She babbled, hugging Sonny tightly. Sonny smiled softly before sighing.

"Well, he's here safe and sound." He flew her around before placing her on the floor. "How about we break out some coloring books and crayons and get to having some fun?" Allie squealed excitedly, bouncing around the room.

"Do Johnny and Sydney want to color as well?" Sonny asked, staring over to E.J. and the kids. They cheered in unison before wiggling their way down and racing over to the dining room with Allie. Sonny went over and opened one of the cabinets in there to show a large stack of kids' crafting supplies. He pulled out a large stack of books and two boxes of crayons before setting them on the table.

Justin wrapped his arm around his wife and watched his son carefully. Even though Sonny was the youngest, he had always had a knack for little kids. Justin and Adrianne knew Sonny would be a good father once he finally settled down with a nice husband.

Once Sonny was back over to the adults he stared over at Chad.

"Where's my hair dryer?" He accused, an eyebrow raised and arms crossed. Chad ducked his head, a guilty smile on his lips.

"Well, you see. Will and I wanted to see what would happen if we tried to heat up marshmallows on it and, well. Yeah…" Sonny groaned.

"This is the second hairdryer you've ruined. And now you've roped _Will_ into it?" Sonny rubbed his forehead.

"Where's Will's?" Chad cleared his throat and smirked.

"In there." He jabbed a thumb to the occupied bathroom that music was pouring loudly from.

"Well I guess I'm going to have to air dry my hair today." Sonny sat down on the arm of Chad's chair and sighed heavily.

"Just go in there and use it. You know Will won't care." Sonny shook his head at Chad's suggestion.

"Nope, that's not happening." Chad groaned, rolling his eyes at the same time.

"You _know_ Will doesn't care, so stop being so scared." Chad pushed him off, trying to get him to go and do it.

"What's wrong?" Marlena question quietly. Most of adults were quietly listening to the two boys while they pretended to have conversations with one another as they waited for the reason they came here to show himself.

"Sonny is still worried that, because he's gay, Will and I will be uncomfortable with him being in the bathroom with us. Even getting changed in the same room together or even sleeping in the same room scares him." Sonny rolled his eyes before sitting back down.

"Can't you just get it for me?" He begged. Adrianne frowned.

"Has Will been uncomfortable around you or something?" Both Sonny and Chad snorted.

"Will is definitely the least homophobic person I've ever met." Sonny commented, sliding down on the arm of the chair some. "He has absolutely no problem with me being gay, but I just don't want to go over any boundaries that he might not even know he has." Chad rolled his eyes, mouthing along with Sonny's explanation. It obviously wasn't the first time Sonny has done this.

"And he won't listen to any of us that we don't care." Chad bumped Sonny with his shoulder.

"Can you please get it for me?" Chad shook his head no. Sonny whined before putting his hand in his hair and ruffling it, hitting Chad with small beads of water.

"Fine." Chad grumbled before getting up.

"Thank you!" Sonny called out as Chad walked over to the bathroom door. Sonny slid down in the chair and watched as Chad knocked three times before walking in.

Everyone stilled as they heard Will's wonderfully rich voice ring out again.

"_Well, curse the man who made the sweet perfume that cast the spell_

_And curse the night that made us kiss beneath the star that fell_

_And curse the man before me,_

_Didn't warm me when he could_

_And curse me most of all for loving you more than I should."_

"I never knew Will like country." Lucas muttered, holding Sami tight against him. Rafe shook his head, most people didn't know, but Rafe had come home early several times to hear Will singing along to different genres of music, country being the most prominent.

Sonny opened his eyes and looked over at Will's parents. It was surprising how much they really didn't know about their son. E.J. and Rafe both knew more about Lucas's son than Lucas himself knew about Will. It was sad, really.

"He constantly is listening to it when we're in the car." E.J. muttered, while he wasn't a fan of country he couldn't deny that William's voice was suited for it. William's voice was suited for most music, actually.

"He's always had an amazing voice, but it seems it's gotten better." Marlena announce.

"I'll say." Kate murmured, taking in Sami's rigid stance.

By the time Chad exited the bathroom with the blue dryer in hand, the song had ended. As soon as the door closed, the water was shut off and some rap song came on.

"He has a very diverse musical taste." Adrianne muttered, standing close to her husband. Sonny got up and took the hair dryer from Chad before walking into the other bathroom to dry his hair. Five minutes later, Will came out of the bathroom pretty much the same way Sonny had. Towel hung on his hips, and another in his hair. The only difference was Will was looking down as he roughly towel-dried his hair so he didn't notice everyone at first.

"_Where do they go?_  
_ They come here_  
_ To drown their sorrow and cry in their beer_  
_ They're in need of a mindbender_  
_ I'm a bartender_  
_ At the end of the day_  
_ I'm all they've got_  
_ Hope on the rocks."_

He sang out quietly as he looked up, only to jump ten feet in the air.

"_Merde_!" He screamed, confusing everyone in the room. What had he just said?

"Um, what?" Chad muttered, staring up at Will. He knew the poor boy hated when all the attention was on him.

"Uh, it's not important." Will muttered before backing over to his door slowly.

"What are you all doing in the apartment?" He question warily. Sami ran forward to hug her son, who stopped her quickly.

"You never hug me, don't start now." He grumbled, keeping her at arms distance. "Just tell me why you're here." Adrianne was offended _for_ Sami. What child talks to their parent like that? It's disrespectful and just plain rude.

"Because we thought E.J. had kidnapped you!" She exclaimed, barely fazed by Will's distance. Will stared at her unblinkingly.

"Well, he didn't. So _you _can leave." Sami huffed before crossing her arms.

"Well, too bad. I'm staying." Will rolled his eyes before turning to everyone.

"You guys really didn't have to come, you know." He wasn't being rude when he talked to everyone else, not like how he was with his mother.

"We were just worried about you, sweetheart." Marlena announced as she got up and hugged Will tightly.

"Yeah, we didn't know if E.J. _really_ took you, but we were still concerned and wanted to see for ourselves that you were okay." Kate's honey voice called out before hugging him. Will chuckled once he hugged both his grandparents.

"As nice as it is to see you all. If you wouldn't mind waiting a little longer so I can get some actually clothes on, that would be great." He quickly barreled into the bedroom and closing it.

He came out about five minutes later with jeans and an _Angel's Gym_ tee-shirt. It shocked a lot of people to see Will wearing a shirt from there. The place was notorious for bikers and ex-convicts.

"So, make yourselves at home while I get everyone a drink." He muttered, dragging in chairs from his room, Chad doing the same. Once they got as many chairs as they could from throughout the apartment, they began to get everyone drinks. Sonny came out halfway through and began to help after getting a warning from Chad to _behave_.

Everyone finally had a drink and were idly talking to one another while watching Will at the same time as he struck up a conversation with the three kids that had migrated to coloring on the coffee table in the living room.

"Do you think we can come stay with you soon, bubby? We miss you." Sydney mumbled from her spot on her father's lap. Johnny and Allie nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, mommy doesn't do a good job at tucking us in." Johnny pouted, resting his back against Sonny's knees. Allie sat in front of Will. Will looked over at Sami with a raised eyebrow.

"She doesn't?" Adrianne tensed at the mocking in Will's voice. There was some obvious resentment towards his mother.

"They were just too used to you tucking." Sami grumbled tersely.

"Right." Will growled back before looking back down at his siblings.

"I don't see why you guys can't." He looked to the three parents questioningly. They all shrugged their shoulders.

"We'll have to pick a time soon where you guys can come stay all weekend with me." E.J. smiled down at Will. He was a man that loved his siblings above all else.

"That sounds like a wonderful idea, Will." Sami spoke sweetly. She smiled over at Lucas.

"Alright." Rafe muttered, sitting down next to Roman.

"We need to get everyone's statements before we can leave." Will sighed and leaned back into the couch, resting closely to Sonny.

"Okay." Rafe cleared his throat before turning the recorder on.

"Can you please tell me the details of what happened before E.J. DiMera dragged you away?" Will frowned.

"He didn't. I left willingly." Rafe nodded.

"Then can you please tell me the details of what happened before you left with E.J. DiMera?" Will nodded.

"I was already stressed today from work and as I was walking through Horton square I began to feel anxious. I was beginning to have a panic attack when E.J. found me. I guess it was from all of the people in the area." Marlena frowned at the lie. She knew her grandson was prone to panic attacks out of the blue, but she had a feeling he knew what triggered this one.

"He tried to calm me down, and when that didn't happen, he brought me here." Will shrugged. "That's it." Rafe nodded before turning to Sonny and began to ask him questions. Will decided to get everyone more drinks.

When Sonny was done with his statement, Roman turned to question E.J. It was midway through E.J.'s statement when Will's phone rang. Will must have taken it off vibrate when he was in the bathroom.

"Can you get that Sonny?" William called from the kitchen.

"Sure!" Sonny called as he grabbed the phone.

"Will's phone, Sonny spe—" Sonny was soon cut off by loud screaming.

"YOU LITTLE TWINK I OUGHT TO CUT YOUR FUCKING DICK OFF. WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU?!" Everyone in the room turned in shock as the man continued to scream.

"Who is—" Will's eyes went wide as he placed the dinks on the coffee table and snatched the phone out of Sonny's motionless hand.

"Jamie!" He screamed loudly, causing most of the adults to jump. It managed to shut the man up on the other end of the phone. Will knew this man? What was going on?

"Se détendre, Jamie. Se détendre." Will muttered. "Why the heck are you calling me and screaming your head off?" Will growled, walking over to the coffee table and handing out drinks. It was quiet as everyone listened in.

"Where the hell are you, minet? You were supposed to be here an hour ago for the fucking tournament! If you chickened out—"

"_What?_" Will screeched, flinging his head over to the calendar on the wall. "Shit! Man, I forgot!"

"How in the hell do you forget the most important match of the year?! Your fucking lucky I thought ahead and sent Tony to pick up two of the judges and was able to buy you two hours. If you aren't here in twenty minutes, I'm ripping your balls off and giving them to Angel for accessories!" Will winced.

"Look I'll be there in about fifteen minutes." Will turned to his family. "Actually, make that closer to thirty, maybe forty. Most of my family is here right now and then I have to find a way to get there."

"Where the hell is your car?" Will frowned.

"It's at Horton Square still."

"And where are you?" The man, Jamie, growled.

"At the apartment." Will bit his lip.

"And why the hell are you there without your car?" Jamie practically yelled.

"Because I had a mild panic attack earlier and my boss brought me here." Will quickly pulled the phone away from his ear as he moved around the apartment to gather things.

"YOU HAVEN'T BEEN TAKING YOU FUCKING MEDICINE AGAIN HAVE YOU, YOU FUCKING TWINK!" Will sighed.

"Sorry." Marlena frowned. She was the one that had prescribed Will anxiety medicine before he took off to Switzerland, now she regrets not making sure he took them.

"Listen, I have to get ready. I'll be there as soon as I can!" Will muttered urgently as he grabbed a backpack out of the closet.

"You better hurry." Was all Jamie said before there was a beep, signaling that he hung up.

"Listen guys." Will said loudly. "I'm thankful that you cared enough to come over to make sure everything is okay, but I have to leave. So…" He let his sentence hang.

"What the hell was with that guy?" Sami asked. Will cocked his head.

"What do you mean?" Sami stood and got close to Will.

"What do you mean what do I mean? The guy was being an ass!" Will shrugged.

"That's just how Jamie is." Lucas got up as well.

"Where exactly are you headed to?" Lucas asked, parental authority loud in his voice.

"To a, uh, tournament that I completely forgot I had today." Lucas frowned.

"A tournament for what?" Will bit his lip, he knew the answer would make his father upset.

"Boxing, right William?" Will looked over at E.J. and nodded timidly before looking over at Lucas. His eyes were hard.

"Really, now?" Will looked away. His mother wasn't too thrilled either.

"Um, yeah. Jamie, uh, got me into it when I was in Switzerland." Lucas' stance was rigid.

"We met when I was playing baseball and he, uh, got me to try boxing." Will stepped back before grabbing his wallet, sunglasses, phone, and keys off the coffee table and stuffing them in his back pack.

"I don't want to sound rude to you guys, but I really need to leave." The adults began to all stand up.

"I'll take you over, William." E.J. muttered. "I would like to see this match, if you don't mind too much." Will nodded, ducking his head.

"Um, yeah, sure. The more the merrier." Sami started.

"Wait a minute! If E.J. thinks for one minute I'm going to let you leave with him after all of this—"

"Well, it's a good thing it's not your decision, Samantha." E.J. interrupted her as he got up.

"I'm coming, too." Lucas butted in. Sami nodded.

"Same here." Will wanted to cry.

"I don't think that's too good for the kids…" He tried pathetically. He knew none of the guys would hurt the kids at gym, but he didn't think it was a good idea to have the kids there when he's actually fighting.

"We'll come to make sure they're okay." Chad offered, standing up as well.

"It'll be cool to see you boxing." Sonny agreed. Adrianne frowned. Like hell she was about to let her son go without her.

"We'll go too." She said. Once her mind registered what she had said, she wanted to take it back.

"We walked here, Adrianne. As nice as it would be to go, I don't think we'd make it there in time once we got back to our car." Common Grounds was only a five minute walk from here, but he knew Adrianne didn't really want to go, even if he did.

"Nonsense." E.J. clamored. "You'll ride with William and me!" E.J. stared at Adrianne.

"Unless you don't really want to go?" He challenged. Adrianne frowned before nodding.

"Of course I'll go. Riding with the mayor sounds wonderful." Her smile was tight.

"I think it would be a good educational experience if I went, too." Marlena declared. Hopefully she could keep her daughter from embarrassing her grandson. Rafe and Roman both silently decided to go as well, seeing as they were now supposed to be finished with their shifts now.

"This sounds fun!" Kate exclaimed, clapping her hands together. "I think I'll go too!" Will really wanted to cry now. How was he supposed to concentrate with all of his family being there?

"Well, we need to head off _now_!" Will stated. He made sure his sweats were in the back pack before grabbing his ear buds and motioning for everyone to get out. Will felt his nerves spike as his family walked out of the apartment one by one. Once in the parking lot, they quickly got the address before heading out.

Once Will was situated in the passenger seat of E.J.'s car, he plugged the auxiliary cord into the stereo and connected his phone. Justin was surprised to actually know the song, but that could also be because Sonny was talking about it earlier that day in the coffee house.

It was _'Everything You Want' _By: Vertical Horizon. Sonny had been loudly playing it earlier in Common Grounds when there weren't any customers.

It was silent in the car as they set off, the only sound coming from the music and Will occasionally singing until he caught himself. He didn't feel very comfortable singing in front of Adrianne and Justin.

"What was with your father's reaction to learning that you box, William?" Will squirmed, ducking his head.

"He doesn't like it because Uncle Austin boxes and he thinks that I'm doing it just to spite him." He tried to play for nonchalance, but E.J. could tell it was bothering him.

"That's ridiculous. Don't you play baseball, like your father used to?" Will grimaced, but nodded. "Do you not like it?" E.J. questioned further.

"No, I like it a lot, actually. But he gets too… I don't know, overwhelming when it's baseball season. Even now that I'm on Salem U's baseball team, he's overbearing with it." He sighed.

"And don't get me started on soccer. He thinks I only do it because you and Rafe both used to play, even though I liked it _way _before I knew you guys had played." Will sighed. "It's actually because of Chad that I play soccer. He wanted to play soccer and I wanted to do track. Our deal was that we signed up for both together." Will shrugged. He turned the radio up a bit to signify that he wanted to be done with the conversation. E.J. let it go for a bit. He changed the song and began to sing along quietly. \

"_Small town, just north of the city,_  
_ There's a girl all alone by the window in need and she,_  
_ She's thinking that this world's too much to take_  
_ And they could use one less heart to break._  
_ She stares down at the world below_  
_ Fools herself to thinking she should just let go, I know_  
_ I wish she knew she wasn't so alone."_

He had stopped singing when he got a text message, only singing a few notes as he typed. Once he finished his message, he sang again.

"_Flash back to early that year_

_Between his home life and school he wished he'd just disappear, I know_

_He's thinking that this worlds too much to take_

_And they could use one less heart to break_

_Whole world comin' down on his back_

_He takes a bottle of pills and then he's finished with that, I know_

_I wish he wasn't so alone"_

Adrianne was shocked at how easy singing seemed to come to Will. It was like he didn't even have to think twice to hit the right notes. It sounded like he had some professional training.

He began to text again, snorting at whatever had been sent to him.

"Seems like something is amusing, William." E.J. stated, glancing over at the young man, who nodded as he turned the volume down a little.

"Yeah, Sonny just sent me a video of Chad, pretty funny sh—stuff." He caught himself at the end, trying to be a little respectful with the Kiriakis' being in the car with them.

"Immaturity is the biggest downfall of this society." Will snorted.

"Right, greed, anger, laziness, wealth, and violence aren't a part of it at all. Immaturity can be different from stupidity, E.J." Will looked back at his phone.

"Two successful business owners goofing off every now and again is completely different than some of the stupidity that runs wild through my generation." Will stretched before running his fingers through his damp hair.

"So what exactly would you consider trying to roast marshmallows on a hairdryer, then?" E.J. teased, a smile on his face as he saw Will's face flame.

"An educational experiment. We now know that if we try to do that again that the heat from the hairdryer set on high will melt the marshmallow down into the hairdryer if we set it on top of it." Will stated quickly.

"_But_ if we put it on a marshmallow and blow it, the outside will heat up while the inside won't." Will shrugged. "We just wanted some s'mores." E.J. chuckled as he shook his head.

"Of, course William." Will stuck out his tongue before turning the volume up and singing, or rapping, along with whatever song was playing.

"_Remember the moment you know exactly where you're going,_

_'Cause the next moment, before you know it,_

_Time is slowing and it's frozen still,_

_And the window sill looks really nice, right?_

_You think twice about your life, it probably happens at night,_

_Right? Fight it, take the pain, ignite it,_

_Tie a noose around your mind loose enough to breathe fine and tie it,_

_To a tree, tell it, "You belong to me,_

_This ain't a noose, this is a leash,_

_And I have news for you, you must obey me."_

_You are surrounding all my surroundings,_

_Sounding down the mountain range of my left-side brain,_

_You are surrounding all my surroundings,_

_Twisting the kaleidoscope behind both of my eyes."_

He once again stopped singing as he got another text, but he kept moving his body as if he was dancing in place.

"We should be there in about five minutes." Will muttered into his phone as he got another text. He shook his head before changing the song.

_Get up, get down, get a little bit closer to the scene_

_Find out what's there, something new to conceive_

_Get up, get down, get a little bit closer to me_

_Find out what's there what you can be_

_Yesterday was our time to turn back again_

_And instead we went through the fire to get lost in sin_

_Burn, baby, burn let me cool you down again_

_Turn, baby, turn to see where it all begins."_

As was about to continue, his phone rang. He turned the radio off before answering it.

"Hey Austin!" Will exclaimed happily, a huge smile on his face. "Are you at the gym already? I completely forgot that you guys were coming in today and that the competition was today!" His smile was soon replaced with a frown.

"Oh." Adrianne's heart clenched. She's heard that enough from Sonny. He was disappointed and hurt. "No, no. I'm fine. She doesn't feel good." Will paused.

"Tell her not to be sorry. All I care about is that she gets some rest and feels better soon. Okay. Yeah. If you can't make it to that either, I think they'll understand. No, no. don't apologize, I'll be fine. Tell her I hope she feels better. Yeah. Wish me luck. Love you too. Bye." Will hung up and sighed shakily.

"What happened, William?" E.J. asked, glancing over to the boy.

"Aunt Carrie doesn't feel too well so they're going to stay in their hotel room for the afternoon. If she's feeling any better later, they're going to try and make it to Jamie's engagement party, so at least I'll be able to see them there." He was rambling.

"And I know I shouldn't be upset, 'cause it's not either of their faults that she doesn't feel too well. And I should be used to being disappointed, 'cause neither of my parents have ever really been there for me. I guess it's because I'm not used to Austin not being able to keep his promises. I don't know." Adrianne didn't think Will remembered they were in there with them. E.J. quickly placed a hand on his shoulder and rubbed gently.

"I'm sorry, William. I know you were looking forward to seeing your uncle at your tournament." Will looked up at E.J. with a tired grin before resting a hand on E.J.'s. He squeezed it before letting go and closing his eyes.

"Yeah…" He turned the music back on, but didn't sing to it. For the first time, Adrianne began to see things through Will's eyes.

* * *

**_Almost eleven thousand words is a lot for the first chapters, don't you think? If anyone is still here through it all, I might split this chapter in half to make it easier to read. Please review and give me your thoughts!_**

**_~WildFireBurnsTheForest_**


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